YREKA – Following the preliminary hearing, Siskiyou County Superior Court Judge William Davis ruled on Friday that Patricia MacCallum, age 26, of Medford, Ore., will be held to answer to the charges in connection with the November 2012 murder of her 34-year-old husband Michael MacCallum. The murder allegedly occurred in the Applegate Creek area near the Oregon border.

Medford resident Amber Lubbers age 28, the proclaimed co-conspirator in the murder, entered into a plea agreement with the Siskiyou County District Attorney’s Office and testified at the hearing – detailing the circumstances surrounding the alleged murder.

MacCallum is charged with murder, assault with a deadly weapon and corporal injury to a spouse. She also faces two special allegations: inflicting great bodily injury and discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury or death. Siskiyou County District Attorney Kirk Andrus explained that the latter special allegation carries a 25-year to life enhancement over and above the 25-year to life sentence for the murder charge if she is found guilty.

The hearing began on Thursday when Lubbers, who was initially charged with murder as well, pleaded guilty to one count of being an accessory to murder. Her public defender Lael Kayfetz told the court that in return for Lubbers’ guilty plea and willingness to “testify truthfully” in the preliminary hearing, she will receive a maximum sentence of 16 months in custody. The statutory sentence for this charge is a maximum of three years in custody.

Lubbers took the stand for direct examination by Siskiyou County Deputy District Attorney Joe Allison. During the line of questioning, Lubbers stated that she and MacCallum were best friends and former stepsisters.

Lubbers testified that MacCallum and her husband were separated and began living together again in September 2012. During that month, Lubbers alleged that MacCallum told her she wanted to kill her husband.

“She said something about how she wanted him dead. She said she wanted to make it look like an accident,” Lubbers testified.

She told the court that a couple of weeks later, she and MacCallum drove to the Applegate Creek area “to find a spot.”

“To find a spot for what?” Allison asked.

“For where it was going to happen … the murder,” responded Lubbers.

Lubbers continued that she and MacCallum allegedly devised a plan for the three of them to go on a camping trip at the spot, prompt the victim to cross the swift Applegate River with rope tied to his waist, and then pull the rope so the victim would fall.

Shortly after this trip, the victim, Lubbers and MacCallum went on the camping excursion at the planned location, Lubbers testified.

Lubbers told the court that MacCallum packed a gun and a hatchet for the trip.

Page 2 of 3 - She testified that on the day of the murder at the campsite, the trio walked down to the river, and MacCallum was able to convince the victim to tie a rope around himself and secure the end of it around a tree and walk across the river. However, she said MacCallum did not pull on the rope to cause the victim to fall into the rapids.

When they returned to the campsite, Lubbers said she and MacCallum served the victim alcoholic beverages while the two women pretended to drink hard alcohol but really drank water with diluted amounts of alcohol.

When it got dark, Lubbers said they all went into their tent, and the victim fell asleep in his sleeping bag. At that point, she said that she and MacCallum went to the car.

Lubbers described MacCallum’s demeanor as “emotionless.”

“She said, ‘I’m going to do this’ and that ‘he’s not coming home with me,’” Lubbers testified. “She told me in the car that she was going to shoot him.”

Lubbers said she and MacCallum loaded the camping gear from the tent into the car. Then, she alleged that while she stood by the car, MacCallum took the gun to the tent and shot the victim seven or eight times. Lubbers told the court MacCallum went back to the car and asked for a second clip, and then she walked back to the tent and allegedly shot the victim eight more times.

Lubbers continued that she and MacCallum allegedly rolled the victim up in the tent, secured it with rope and “kicked him down” an embankment.

Then, Lubbers told the court, MacCallum threw the gun and clips into a nearby waterfall and tossed the shells into the water.

Lubbers said while the two women drove back to Medford, MacCallum confided that “she felt liberated.” Lubbers further stated that they planned to tell anyone who questioned the victim’s whereabouts that he had stayed behind at the campsite to meet up with a friend.

When they returned to Medford, Lubbers said the two women went to a fast food restaurant and kept the receipt for an alibi.

When MacCallum’s attorney, William Duncan, cross examined Lubbers, he asked for clarification as to why MacCallum allegedly wanted her husband dead.

“I believe it was for social security and for life insurance,” Lubbers responded.

Duncan asked Lubbers if she had ever seen a life insurance policy, and she responded “No.”

Upon further prompting for potential motives for the alleged murder, Lubbers said the victim had been cruel to one of MacCallum’s family members, and that he forced the defendant to have an abortion.

Page 3 of 3 - “So, to this day you don’t know of any other reasons she allegedly shot him?” Duncan asked.

“No,” Lubbers responded.

Duncan noted that parts of Lubbers’ testimony were inconsistent with statements she made to officers during the investigation – such as the events leading up to the camping trip, and the events after the women returned to Medford.

“I am under oath now,” Lubbers stated.

On Friday, another witness took the stand. The witness told the court that he and McCallum had a sexual relationship, and he alleged that she told him she wanted her husband dead.

Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. James Randall testified that when officials examined the victim’s body during the autopsy, they discovered he had suffered eight or nine bullet wounds. He stated that one had severed the victim’s spinal cord, and two had struck his heart, either of which could have been the cause of death. The victim was also shot in the wrist and shoulder, and the investigation revealed multiple bullet holes in the tent.

Randall stated that authorities determined it is unsafe at this time to send divers into the waterfall to search for other evidence.

At the close of the hearing, Davis immediately ruled that there is sufficient evidence to hold MacCallum to answer to the charges.

Davis scheduled MacCallum to reappear in court on Feb. 19 for further proceedings.

Lubbers is scheduled to reappear in court on Feb. 28 for sentencing.

MacCallum is being held in the Siskiyou County Jail on $1 million bail.